The New, Better Way to Take Screenshots in Chrome’s Incognito Mode on Android

Screenshots are disabled by default in Google Chrome’s incognito mode on Android, which, while good for privacy, can be inconvenient now and then. You can use a workaround via Chrome flags to take incognito screenshots, but this trick creates a new problem — doing so exposes those incognito tabs in the “Recents” screen on your smartphone as previews.

To fix this problem, Google has introduced a new Chrome flag that lets you take screenshots in Chrome’s incognito mode while disabling previews on the Recents screen. With it, you can maintain your privacy when Chrome isn’t the active app on screen, while still preserving your ability to take screenshots of webpages in incognito mode.

You won’t find this new flag in the official Chrome app on your phone, however. To try it, you’ll need to download Chrome Canary (Unstable) on the Play Store. This is the test version of Chrome where new features are tested before Google rolls them out to the stable version. Even though its name uses the word “unstable,” it’s good enough to be used as your primary browser, especially if you like to be on the bleeding edge of tech.

Once Chrome Canary is installed, type chrome://flags in the address bar and open the page. On the Chrome flags page, search for Improved Incognito Screenshots. Tap the button below this flag and select Enabled. You’ll now be able to take screenshots of open tabs in Chrome’s incognito mode, and when you switch to the Recents menu, you’ll notice that screenshots are disabled.

Note that this feature hasn’t yet been rolled out to the stable version of Google Chrome for Android. If you enable this flag in Chrome Canary, it won’t work in the stable version of the browser.

[Techdows]